Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy
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All living organisms are sentient
No full textWe argue that all living organisms, from the simplest unicellular prokaryotes to Homo sapiens, have valenced experiences—feelings as states of preference—and are capable of cognitive representations. Bacteria can learn, form stable memories, and communicate, hence solve problems. Rowan et al.\u27s statement that Subjective feelings are just that — subjective — and are available only to the animal (or human) experiencing them is true but irrelevant. When we see a fish flopping about in the bottom of a boat we immediately recognize suffering without having a glimpse of the nature of piscine distress. Some controlled anthropomorphism can go a long way without stumbling into the philosophical first person problem. Incumbent on a species with such gifts are countervailing responsibilities
Defining and assessing sentience
No full textPrecisely what is meant by the term sentience and how does it overlap with being conscious? We accept that animals have feelings but how do we know what they are and can we measure them? It is important that we clarify the terminology underlying these difficult concepts. Over the last 50 years a scientific discipline has developed to tackle these questions in a systematic way. We have to avoid thoughtless anthropomorphism yet we have to try to relate sentience in animals, as appropriate, to corresponding experiences in humans
One Health for the SDGs but also for Nature and Animals
No full textEarlier this year, an open-access paper on One Health and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) was published (in the CABI One Health journal). The authors (from institutions in the USA, Sweden,and Brazil) noted that human, non-human, and environmental health are linked in the One Health framework. The authors also argued that animals matter for sustainable development, although animal welfare is currently not included in sustainable development governance. For example, they state that “the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 goals and 169 targets on topics ranging fromhunger and poverty to peace and justice.” Several SDG targets address biodiversity and the environmentbut mostly reference nature’s value to promote human benefit rather than being of intrinsic value itself.Also, none of the targets reference animal welfare. The situation for the environment and animals may be changing. A recent resolution by the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) recommends producing a report that aims to improve human understanding of the nexus between animal welfare, the environment, and sustainable developmen
More Evidence Suggests that Vegetarianism is Mostly Due to Genes
No full textThe relative influence of genes and environment on human behavior is one of the most persistent, interesting, and divisive issues in psychology. The human penchant for eating animals is a good example. Clearly, culture has a huge influence on the amount of flesh people consume. The average American, for example, consumes about 240 pounds of meat a year while per capita meat consumption in India is only 10 pounds per year. And your chances of being a vegetarian or vegan are nearly seven times higher if you live in India than in the United States (39% versus 6%). Further, cultures vary widely in the types of animals that are considered to be edible (e.g., cats in Madagascar, termites in Tanzania)
Letter from the President: Biodiversity and the Smallest Floral Kingdom
No full textAs attention to global biodiversity heats up because of the upcoming December meeting (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, media stories on the state of the globe’s biodiversity are becoming more numerous. Humans love lists, and someone would inevitably produce a list of countries ranked according to their biodiversity. Swiftest, a data analytics company interested in the insurance and travel industries, has recently created a country-by-country biodiversity ranking. Their list includes 201 countries (193 member countries in the UN). The list is based on a relatively simple index that counts all the species of five groups of animals – birds, amphibians, fish, mammals, and reptiles – as well as the number of plant species. Each country’s score is determined on a 0-100 scale based on the total number of each of the five animal groups, with a 0-50 scale for plants. The highest possible score is, therefore, 550. Brazil ends up on top of the list with a total score of 512.34 (a result that is not that surprising given the species richness of the Amazon basin), while San Marino (a tiny country of 61 km2 located in Italy) is at the bottom with a score of 5.47
Invertebrate Sentience Annotated Bibliography
No full textThe bibliography identifies and summarizes over 60 scientific reports on the development and possible presence of sentience (the capacity to feel positive and negative states) in a range of invertebrate species. The summaries provide a useful snapshot of what capabilities might be required to identify the presence of sentience in a specific invertebrate
Chinese Consumers’ Attitudes Toward Animal Welfare: Behaviors, Beliefs, And Responses To Messaging
No full textDespite being comparatively neglected until recently, the suffering of animals in Asia is starting to command more attention from global animal advocacy activists. In particular, as the largest country in the world by both human and farmed animal population, and among the largest when measured by economy and land mass, China plays a central role here. However, the key question of how best to improve outcomes for farmed animals in China remains difficult to answer, due to the recency of the movement and a comparative lack of research on the topic.
Although China’s per capita meat consumption is lower than most wealthier, Western countries (Ritchie & Roser, 2017), the country’s size and the rapid growth of its meat industry means that it houses and slaughters more farmed animals than any other country in the world (Faunalytics, 2022). Despite this, animal welfare remains a relatively fringe issue in China. Because of the scale of China’s agriculture industry, even small changes have the potential for an outsized effect.
For these reasons, research on animal protection in China is crucial. While previous reports (including Phase 1 of this study) have focused more on China’s animal protection community, this report seeks to shed light on Chinese consumers, and in particular, explore advocate assumptions that we identified in Phase 1.
After seeking input from members of the farmed animal protection community in China, we conducted focus groups regarding the attitudes of Chinese consumers towards meat consumption, the concept of farmed animal welfare, different types of messaging and strategies for encouraging movement growth
Saving Tigers in America: Part 3
No full textThe last of the series on captive tigers in America reports on the closure of three problem facilities and argues that the captive tiger situation is beginning to improve
The Magic of Being Among Gorillas in Rwanda
No full textWBI Board member, Rick Bernthal, describes his visit to Rwanda and the Virunga Mountains to see Mountain Gorillas
Animal Models in Neuropsychiatry: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Moral Costs?
No full textAnimal models have long been used to investigate human mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. This practice is usually justified in terms of the benefits (to humans) outweighing the costs (to the animals). The author argues on utility maximization grounds that we should phase out animal models in neuropsychiatric research. The leading theories of how human minds and behavior evolved invoke sociocultural factors whose relation to nonhuman minds, societies, and behavior has not been homologized. Thus, it is not at all clear that we are gaining the epistemic or clinical benefits we want from this animal-based researc